Key Concepts in African Geography and History

Tsetse Fly and Sleeping Sickness

• The tsetse fly is a creature responsible for causing sleeping sickness in both humans and domesticated animals in Africa.

Biomes of Western Africa

• The biomes found in Western Africa can be visualized as horizontal bands that transition from arid conditions in the north to a wet climate closer to the equator.

Cocoa Beans Production

• The two countries that produce more than half of the world’s supply of cocoa beans are:

  • Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast)

  • Ghana

Historical Control of Western Africa

• France was the European nation-state that once controlled the majority of the territory in Western Africa.

Blood Diamonds and Charles Taylor

• The warlord Charles Taylor funded his military actions in Liberia using a natural resource known as blood diamonds, which he acquired in neighboring Sierra Leone.

Great Green Wall Initiative

• The African Union is attempting to build the ‘Great Green Wall’ to combat desertification. Desertification refers to a set of ecological changes that convert non-desert lands into desert.

Current President of Nigeria

• The current president of Nigeria is Bola Tinubu.

Origin of Enslaved People

• Most of the slaves forcibly transported across the Atlantic primarily originated from West and West-Central Africa.

Boko Haram

• Boko Haram is the name of the terrorist organization that has been involved in numerous armed conflicts and kidnappings in Nigeria and Western Africa at large.